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Montpelier’s New England Culinary Institute (NECI) has joined Vermont’s education and agriculture leaders as part of the Vermont Higher Education Food Systems Consortium.

A visionary for Vermont’s evolving food economy for many years, NECI offers undergraduate degrees, online learning, and certificates in culinary arts, baking and pastry, and food and beverage management. NECI students apply their foundational learning in sustainability to transform the culinary scene in Vermont and beyond. NECI learning is brought to life through curriculum and the public face of its restaurants as well as involvement in many of Vermont’s grassroots food systems organizations and initiatives from farmers’ markets to the Vermont Fresh Network.

“NECI delivers hands-on training, a restaurant learning environment, and a steadfast, long-standing commitment to local foods and sustainability,” noted Paul Costello, facilitator of the Consortium. “Through the Consortium’s expansion, we will continue to gather momentum and resources as we leverage Vermont’s educational assets.”

The Consortium is now comprised of seven Vermont higher education institutions. As part of this initiative the schools have launched the inaugural Vermont Food and Farm Education Summer Study Tour, a three-week June immersion for credit in Vermont field-based food systems (VermontFoodEducation.org).

The Consortium advances Vermont as the premier destination for the study of local and global food systems. Vermont educators attract students from across the globe who, through learning, access tools to transform the food systems landscape through agriculture, science, community development, law, and policy.

In addition to NECI, the Vermont Higher Education Food Systems Consortium is comprised of Green Mountain College, Middlebury College, Sterling College, University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and Vermont Technical College. The initiative is facilitated by the Vermont Council on Rural Development.